*Please be aware that SRRFs may apply for support through the CFI-IOF Reserve Fund competition.
See here for details.
Across the University, a large amount of research infrastructure has been acquired for use by multiple investigators, normally housed together and managed as core facilities, herein referred to as Shared Research Resource Facilities (SRRFs). The scientific importance of such facilities must not be underestimated; SRRFs are critical to the research mission of the University and new core facilities may be developed as research and technology advances. Those investigators who apply for funding to acquire cutting-edge infrastructure must be recognized for their efforts and directly involved in setting the priorities of the relevant SRRF. Where appropriate, investigators who acquire new equipment should be encouraged to consider housing that equipment within an existing SRRF to ensure maximization of usage for the highest impact on research and greatest benefits for training, sustainability of operations, and a high level of technical support. The current document sets out guidelines for the identification and annual review of campus-based SRRFs within the Faculty of Medicine, the requisite management structure, and harmonized operating procedures. The guidelines are subject to change to ensure they remain in line with University-wide policies.
1. Definitions
The concept of core facilities is well established in US institutions; the NIH defines core facilities as ‘centralized shared research resources that provide access to instruments, technologies, services, as well as expert consultation and other services to scientific and clinical investigators’. Accessibility is a critical aspect of the definition of core facilities. In general, core facilities recover their operating costs, or a portion thereof, by providing service in exchange for user fees.
Within the Faculty of Medicine, we have adapted for our purposes the definition proposed by the Canadian Cytometry and Microscopy Association .
1. An SRRF is a centralized and shared facility that offers specialized instrumentation and services that are required by multiple investigators.
2. SRRFs provide access to equipment with a fee-for-service component in the business model. The business model may consist of cost recovery of a diverse nature including any or all of the following: 1) direct institutional support; 2) external grant funding; 3) donations; 4) user fees charged per established written fee structure; and 5) annual SRRF membership fees, which stipulate the services and amount thereof included in the membership fee. Usage logs and billing records, documenting PI approval (if charged to research funds) for each billable statement, must be retained for audit purposes.
3. SRRFs provide individual researchers with open access to specialized instrumentation, technology, service and expertise including in-depth education and training initiatives that are generally too expensive, complex or specialized for investigators to reasonably provide and sustain in individual laboratories through operating grant funding and laboratory personnel.
4. SRRFs should ideally be directed by dedicated expert research personnel or faculty, have dedicated equipment and dedicated space. Details of the management structure are provided later in the document.
Excluded from this definition are departmental facilities or research resources that are shared by a restricted set of investigators, as well as those platforms without a fee-for-service component.
2. Management Structure
All SRRFs report to the Dean of the Faculty through the Associate Dean (Research) who chairs the Faculty’s SRRF oversight committee. An SRRF must have a Scientific Director, who oversees the broader scientific direction of the facility, as well as a Managing Director (potentially the same individual) who oversees the day-to-day operations. The Directors are expected to seek financial support and upgrades for the SRRF through regular application to funding agencies and via efforts to link their SRRF to other core facilities at the regional and national levels (in order to increase the potential for external funding).
SRRFs must establish a Scientific Advisory Board, comprised of the Scientific Director and at least 4 PIs who are primary users of the facility. External members with relevant expertise may also be members of the Advisory Board. The role of the Advisory Board is to ensure that the services provided are at the cutting edge of science, that the appropriate technical staff is in place to support the SRRF, and that high quality training is provided to researchers using the infrastructure. The Advisory Board also approves the business plan of the SRRF (see below), including internal and external user fee rates. Should the Advisory Board determine that the SRRF is no longer serving the needs of scientists, they should recommend its closure or replacement with a more cutting-edge facility. Such a recommendation will be provided to the Associate Dean (Research) and reviewed by the Faculty’s SRRF oversight committee prior to implementation.
An executive committee may complement the governance structure. Such a committee would consist of no more than a total of 5 PIs, core staff members and trainees directly interested in the good status of operations of the SRRF. Members can be nominated by the SRRF Director(s), in consultation with the Advisory Board, and/or elected as representatives of the categories of the SRRF personnel and its users. The executive committee is informed of the policies and guidelines established by the Advisory Board and the SRRF Director, and has the mission to implement and report on the latter to the SRRF Director, typically on a semi-annual basis.
3. Business Model and Annual Reporting
Every SRRF must have in place a business model that ensures the stability and fiscal health of the SRRF’s financial operations. A 3-5 year financial plan should be included; annual budgets must be submitted with the annual report. Ideally, a semi-annual report should also be produced. A publicly-available fee structure must be put in place in keeping with Tri-Agency requirements and good business practices. (The fee structure should take into consideration the status of the users (e.g., internal/external, ‘power user’, PI who acquired the infrastructure, etc).)
Each SRRF must maintain a comprehensive and up-to-date inventory of its equipment (including source of funding, year of purchase and cost). The available equipment, access and training requirements, scheduling policies, as well as the user fees must be available on the SRRF’s website.
Usage statistics, invoicing and revenue reporting should be controlled via common, well-developed and auditable tools. Annual reports must be prepared and submitted to both the SRRF’s Advisory Board and the Faculty’s SRRF oversight committee , chaired by the Associate Dean (Research). An example of the report requirements is provided in Appendix 1 and includes usage statistics, financial statistics, publications associated with use of the SRRF, etc. Annual reports will be analyzed by the SRRF oversight committee and recommendations for the future operations of the SRRF will be made (see Internal Financial Support section below).
4. Centralized/Harmonized Administration
Specialized expertise within relevant Administrative Excellence Centres should be made available for all SRRFs within the Faculty to support the scheduling and financial management, as well as the administrative aspects of human resources/staffing of the SRRFs. Such expertise within an AEC would facilitate harmonization of policies across the various SRRFs and free up the time of the directorial and technical staff to focus on research endeavours. It would also ensure compliance with internal McGill financial and procurement policies, as well as with external funding agency policies for fund use. Economies of scale could be achieved by engaging in group negotiations for, e.g., Service Contracts with vendors who provide instrumentation/services to several SRRFs across the Faculty.
At a minimum, quarterly usage statements must be provided to internal Principal Investigators and their approval (along with confirmation of Fund number(s)) obtained for each statement before the fees can be charged to research funds. Purchase Orders should be required for all external clients, including those from other academic institutions before the services are provided to ensure availability of funds upon issuance of invoice.
5. Internal Financial Support for SRRFs
SRRFs that meet the guidelines set forth herein are eligible to apply for internal funding to support operations through, e.g., the CFI-IOF Reserve Fund or other mechanisms within the Faculty of Medicine and/or the University. Funding is limited and will be based on a review of performance metrics and scientific importance of the SRRF, based on information available in the SRRF annual reports. Funding for each SRRF is not guaranteed. (See Appendix 2 for a sample application for funding.)
6. Guideline Maintenance
At least every five years, the Faculty will review the procedures outlined in this guideline.
6.1 History of Versions/Revisions
The table below documents the version/revision history for this policy. A cumulative version/revision history for this document is maintained for seven years.
Date Version Version/Revision Summary
May 2016 V1 Approved by Basic Science Chairs
May 2016 V1 Approved by Deanery Executive Committee
13 Sept 2017 V2 Approved by Dean’s Operations Committee (DOC)
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guidelines_for_srrfs_v22112017.pdf